SAVE ME

Morgan Smith

“How… does it hurt?” Ricardo asked and I nod my head in response to him.

That’s the same thing he and George have been asking me since they took me out of the cafeteria and brought me in here and I have been giving them the same answer.

The nurses already attended to me and said it wasn’t that serious just a shallow burn but no nerve damage or anything. The coffee was really hot, I wouldn’t lie but it’s just a surface burn, it’s likely to be a burn injury if the nurses hadn’t attended to me immediately.

She applied lidocaine which is an anesthetic to help reduce the pain and heal it as she said… can’t remember. It did feel numb as she said it would and I felt a bit better.

I wasn’t mad at Aubrey for pouring that scalding hot coffee on my back, it was a mistake and she wasn’t supposed to be throwing that at anyone, to begin with, it is a dangerous move on her part.

“At least now I know they do sell really hot coffee in school” I joked but Ricardo wasn’t having it as he looked pissed at her.

“Eat some of these, you are hungry” he gave me the burger and fries that put me in this state and I collected them.

“Thank you,” I said and took a bite while he watches me.

“Nurse Bisi said that it isn’t too serious and it was wise that we brought you in early else it would have caused more damage” he took a bite from his burger too.

“Yeah, it was so hot that I thought it would take my skin off,” I said and he nods his head and then looks at me.

“Sorry it happened to you,” he said and I grinned.

“It’s fine, just too bad that my back first gets to taste how hot the coffee was,” I said and he managed a small smile. He is still pissed. “Is this from the school cafeteria?” I asked and he nods his head.

“Yeah, it is. Try the fries, you will love them” he said I took the fries and they taste even better than the one George had earlier. Speaking of him.

“Where is George?” I asked and sighed.

“He went back to campus, he still has about two more papers before the close of the day”

“And you?” I asked and he raised a brow that read ‘You don’t remember?’ and it clicked. We both have the same papers today.

“Oh yeah, I remember,” I say and put three fries in my mouth and closed my eyes as I savored the fine taste then I felt a small liquid on my lips so I opened my eyes to see a smiling Ricardo putting the straw that was in the ice tea container in his mouth, he damped a bit of the ice tea on my mouth.

I shook my head at him and continued eating.

We talked about school, our exams and how they have been so far graduation, what we will do after graduation, where we see ourselves in the next five years, and how we would grow individually and in our relationship.

We wanted to take things really slow even though we are assured about ending up together, we still have a life ahead of us and we will enjoy it to the fullest.

George came in and joined in our conversation, we stopped our intimate talk so that George wouldn’t feel left out or awkward.

Ricardo passed him the other burger inside the paper bag and we shifted to another topic, later on, Amelia came with her default ‘I don’t really care face’. She might act like she doesn’t but I know deep down, she does care.

I was done with my food in no time and a knock came in.

“Come in,” Amelia said out loud and the door opened to a sorry-looking Aubrey who brought in a box of chocolate.

“Hi,” she greets us all but her gaze was settled on me.

I could see how sorry she looked as she took small steps toward me. Amelia and George left saying they had some kinds of stuff to do and I didn’t bother asking since I understood that they wanted to leave us to talk and mostly because somehow, Amelia isn’t really fond of Aubrey, I really don’t know what the issue is between them is but that’s just it.

And with what Aubrey mistakenly did to me, Amelia would have enough reasons to dislike her.

Ricardo didn’t greet her back when she greeted us earlier except for me and George, I think he is mad at her for what she did so, he just excused himself and packed all the paper bags so that he could dispose of them.

“How are you doing?” she asked when Ricardo left the sat on the chair beside the bed.

“I am doing good” I replied and she nods “How are you doing too?” I asked her back and she smiles.

“I am doing okay,” she said and looked away for some seconds before looking back at me “I brought you this” she handed me the chocolate and I took it and then placed it on my lap.

“Thank you,” I thanked and she nods.

“I am so sorry about what happened earlier, it was a mistake and I shouldn’t have tried to hurt someone with that scalding coffee no matter how angry I was. It was wrong of me and I am so sorry that you took the hit” she apologized and there was no way o was going to hold that against her.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

It was a mistake even though she wasn’t supposed to be doing that but at least she was sorry and she apologized, I can’t be angry at her.

“It’s okay Aubrey, I am not mad at you. Yeah, it did hurt a lot but it was a mistake and the injuries aren’t that serious, my skin will be good in no time. Thank GOD I was brought in earlier, it will be good” I shrugged “And I am glad you know not to do anything that would put anyone in danger no matter how angry you feel to do it”

“Yeah, I am the student president and I sure don’t want people throwing hot coffees at each other because they are angry and all” she chuckled lightly and I joined her.

“Yup, you have to make a good example,” I say and we stay silent for a few minutes.

I looked away from her and focused my gaze on the chocolate she brought me before looking up at her to see her looking at the wall opposite her in thought. I was going to ask what she was thinking about but she beats me to it.

“You know how guys can be? Especially Daniel, he… he could be a jerk most of the time” she sighs when she said it “Even when I became enraged by his reaction, I wouldn’t have done what I did” she faced me “To you or to anyone else and it doesn’t matter if I was the school president, I shouldn’t hurt someone, I am so sorry again Morgan, I feel so bad” she apologized again.

“As I said earlier, it’s fine and it is good that you understood what you should and shouldn’t be doing,” I say to her and she nods her head and then stood to her feet “Thank you, you are very nice,” she said and I nod my head as I wondered what she might be talking about.

“It’s no problem, thanks for the chocolate, I really appreciate it,” I said and she shook her head.

“It’s nothing, can I hug you?” I nod and she came closer then wrapped her arms around me but did not touch my back before she pulled away “Take care, okay?” I nod and she turned around to leave.

Minutes after she left, Ricardo came inside and walked towards me then occupied the chair she sat on minutes ago.

I noticed something off about him and how disturbed-looking he was.

“What did she say?” he asked and I shrugged then pat the space beside me for him to come to sit beside me which he did.

“She said she was sorry,” I told him and he nod his head but he still looked like he was pissed “What’s wrong?” I asked and he shook his head with a small furrow on his brows.

“Nothing” he replies.

“I feel like there’s something wrong and it is about the mistake Aubrey made,” I said and he didn’t respond. “Come on Ricardo, she didn’t mean it. She already apologized and we should let it go” I told him and he sighs.

“I am not mad, okay? I am just worried” he said.

“About?” I pressed on and he glared at me.

“We’ll talk about it later,” he said and looked away from me.

He is still pissed but I hope he just forgets about it and sees it as an accident that just happened and we can move on from it.

I just nod my head and put the chocolate away, he didn’t even notice it when he came and I forgot to tell him about it, I think I better not since he isn’t cool with her yet. I’ll just share with Amelia… oh, I forgot that she isn’t cool with her too. I’ll share it with Ann or just give it to someone if I can’t find anyone to share it with.

Later in the day, the nurse told me that I could go home after she instructed me what we can apply on my back and when to. Ann came in and Ricardo excused us so that I could change out of the gown they gave me to wear into some of the clothes Ann brought me.

She was worried and asked if I was okay which I responded that I was. We left and since I and Ann were going home now, Ricardo said he will be heading to his office to check for any work that needs to be done. We said our goodbyes and went our way.

I and Ann stopped at the store to grab a few things before heading back home, while on our way, we talked about a lot of things, how our day went, things we did, and all those.

As we talked, I noticed how Ann flushed when I asked about her day.

“So, anything interesting today?” I asked when we got home and were preparing the ingredients to cook.

She said that I don’t need to assist her but I insist on doing so she didn’t look like she wanted to argue with me today so she just let me be.

We are making Hearty Dirty Rice. It’s a recipe Ann saw on the internet some weeks ago and has been watching some videos on how to do it for a while now. I guess she feels confident enough to make it for both of us.

“Yeah, I got a decorator for the event” she replied while pealing the onion and garlic.

I was washing the meat and chicken. We aren’t using all of the ingredients but we have a few that can get us to our desired destination. Excluding olives, thank GOD. I just don’t like it.

“Who is she?” I asked.

When I was done with properly washing the meat and chicken, I took the meat mincer from the cupboard so that I can start mincing the meat.

Ann was already done with cutting the onion and garlic and she put the rice in the pot and then put the pot on the stove to start boiling. She came to where I was standing and took the already washed chicken and seasoned then she covered it so that it can marinate.

“Oh no, his name is Elvis” she replied and took out the oven tray, put a foil on the tray, spray some oil then put the chicken on the tray before transferring the tray into the oven for it to bake.

“Hmm… Elvis” I said and she nodded then tole me to pass the pan and cooking oil for her to start the cooking. “What is he like?” I asked and I could see the pink tint on her cheek, to her ear and she tried to conceal a smile.

‘Hmm… I can smell something, I have to press on and confirm my suspicion’

“He is okay, please pass me the onion and garlic,” she said and I did.

“Just… okay?” I asked and she shrugged.

“Well yeah,” she answered and continue what she was doing.

“I really can’t ask you about a guy you just met and you tell me ‘He’s okay’ when you are in fact blushing as I ask you,” I tell her and she rolled her eyes and then raised her hands up in the air.

“Okay fine, I will tell you, I find Elvis Davis attractive, we can talk more about it when we are eating. Are you satisfied?” she asked looking at me.

“A little bit, but during dinner then” she nods and we finished up cooking.